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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27456931">Fair Deal</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyberqueen/pseuds/kyberqueen'>kyberqueen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Triple Frontier (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Mentions of alcohol, a kiss perhaps, mentions of guns</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:07:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,427</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27456931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyberqueen/pseuds/kyberqueen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Super fluffy get-together fic w a gender neutral reader. Set back in their army days, reader is on the Triple Frontier team (Reader’s nickname is Aces). Pope is a little shit, Frankie and reader are oblivious, and everyone knows they’re in love w each other except Frankie and reader. AU where Redfly doesn’t exist bc I Find Him Annoying.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Francisco "Catfish" Morales/You, Santiago "Pope" Garcia &amp; Francisco "Catfish" Morales</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fair Deal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Frankie should have known better by now than to make a bet with Pope. He was three drinks in and Pope was more than eager to take advantage of Frankie’s less-than-sober state. The bar was humming with energy, which only seemed to fuel Frankie’s apprehensiveness.</p><p>“Fish, wanna make a deal?” A mischievous smile crept across Pope’s face. They were always <em>deals</em>, never bets. Something about putting the fact that it was a bet right out in the open always seemed like too much of a warning for Pope’s various targets.</p><p>Frankie gave him a dubious look. “I never seem to like the outcome of your <em>deals</em>, my friend,” he thumbed the label of his beer, memories of Pope’s past escapades flooding his mind.</p><p>“I promise you’ll like this one, just hear me out,” Pope pleaded. He was nothing if not a master swindler.</p><p>Frankie paused, intrigued despite his common sense setting off alarm bells in his head. He sighed. “What’s the deal, Pope?”</p><p>“You gotta agree to it, first,”.</p><p>Frankie scoffed. “In what world would I—”</p><p>“Come on, man,”.</p><p>Frankie searched Pope’s face, finding it lacking any mirth or malice.</p><p>“Alright, deal,”.</p><p>Pope’s stoic expression melted away. “I <em>knew </em>you’d agree, you won’t regret it,”.</p><p>“Just tell me the deal,”.</p><p>Pope swung his beer over in your direction. You were seated at a booth, crammed on one side in between Benny and Will. You were laughing, Benny must have cracked a joke. Pope’s motion caught your attention—you turned your gaze to the bar, where Frankie and Pope awaited the team’s fourth round of drinks. Your eyes lingered on Frankie. You paused a moment, mulling over your words, before deciding against speaking and turning back to Benny and Will.</p><p>Frankie interpreted Pope’s gesture in an instant.</p><p>“No, Pope, that’s not fair and you know it. You know how long I’ve—”</p><p>“You agreed to the deal, fair and square,”.</p><p>Frankie sighed, rolling his eyes. “What’re your terms?”</p><p>The mischievous look that was missing before was back in Pope’s eyes with a <em>vengeance</em>.</p><p>“You, me, firing range tomorrow. Ten shots at 30 yards, whoever is most accurate wins. If you win, I’ll cover your paperwork for a month. If I win, you’re asking Aces on a date,”.</p><p>Frankie was going to combust. He wasn’t a<em> bad </em>shot, per se, but Pope held all but three of the squad’s sharpshooting records. The only person who ever gave him any competition was you. <em>You. </em>Frankie still couldn’t believe Pope had brought you into one of his little games. Pope had known about Frankie’s feelings for you before Frankie himself had. Pope <em>knew </em>how much he cared for you, and yet here you were, smack-dab in the middle of one of Pope’s <em>deals</em>.</p><p>“I—”</p><p>“A deal’s a deal, Fish. A man’s only as good as his word,”.</p><p>Frankie spared another selfish glance over at you.</p><p>He was <em>screwed</em>.</p><p>***</p><p>Frankie’s eighth shot rang out, echoing off the interior walls of the range. He was edging out Pope, but <em>barely</em>. Pope craned his head, eyeing the small cluster of shots in the center of Frankie’s target sheet.</p><p>“Fuck’s gotten into you today, man? You never shoot this well,”.</p><p>Frankie gave Pope a self-satisfied smirk, raising his handgun and focusing his aim at the target. He inhaled deeply, his finger hovering over the trigger. He squinted, aligning his sights carefully. His index finger flexed.</p><p>“Hey, guys!”</p><p>Frankie missed. Not just the bulls-eye, the <em>whole target</em>. When you were around, he never seemed to hit anything.</p><p>“Did you tell her to come here?” Frankie hissed.</p><p>Pope merely shrugged. <em>The fucker</em>.</p><p>“What’s going on here? I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Your eyes darted from Frankie to Santi, detecting the tension that stifled the range.</p><p>“Nope,” Pope said, popping the ‘P’. “Just some friendly competition,”.</p><p>Pope took his ninth and tenth shots in quick succession—dead on as usual. Frankie rolled his shoulders, shaking his head and raising his gun towards the target. He could practically <em>feel </em>your eyes boring into the back of his head. He aimed. He fired. He missed. <em>Fuck</em>.</p><p>Pope didn’t even bother comparing the targets, and Frankie wasn’t about to grovel his way into a tie, especially not in front of you.</p><p>You wandered over to Frankie’s firing lane, scrutinizing his target. “Not bad for a pilot,” you appraised, snatching his ballcap from his head and ruffling his messy curls. Frankie gulped. He threw a pleading glance over his shoulder at Pope.</p><p>“I’m gonna head out, keep Fish company, will ya?” Pope walked to the exit, passing the two of you. He clapped Frankie on the shoulder before leaving, leaning in and whispering, “A deal’s a deal,”.</p><p>You furrowed your brows, watching Santi walk out the door. “Are you <em>sure </em>nothing’s going on?” You handed Frankie his cap back, searching his eyes as he put it back on.</p><p>Frankie did his best to appear unbothered. “All good, Aces,”.</p><p>“If you say so,”. You retrieved your handgun, focusing your sights on Pope’s used target. You fired off five rounds, each one hitting dead center. You glanced over at Frankie, who appeared very busy fiddling with the clip of his gun. He was acting downright <em>weird</em>. Conversation between you and Frankie had always flowed easily. Even when you had first joined the squad, Frankie was always the one you went to for advice. You trusted him, and he trusted you—which was why he could never know how much you really cared for him. You had been halfway in love with him within <em>weeks </em>of being reassigned to their team. It had been two years now, and you were sure that if he felt the same way for you, he would have made a move by now. Nevermind the fact that you hadn’t exactly been obvious in your affections. You peeked back over at Frankie, who had been blatantly staring at you while you were lost in thought. He turned back to his clip quickly, hoping you didn’t notice.</p><p>“Seriously, Fish, what’s going on?”</p><p>He said your name. Not your nickname, your real name. His gravity startled you. You set down your gun and walked over to his lane. He inserted a few more rounds into the clip before setting the handgun down with a thud. He raised his gaze to meet yours, and your heart pounded in your chest.</p><p>“I—I’ve been meaning to tell you something. For a while now, actually. I care about you, you know? You’re amazing—you’re smart, and funny, and you’re good at what you do. I like you, and I know this probably isn’t what you wanna hear—”</p><p>“Frankie,”.</p><p>“But I’ve spent the last two years of my life dancing around this—this <em>secret. </em>And you and I? We don’t do secrets. You deserve—”</p><p>“<em>Frankie</em>,”.</p><p>“To know the truth. And the truth is, I have feelings for you. I know I shouldn’t, I know it’s unprofessional, I know—”</p><p>You took his face in your hands, and he paused his soliloquy to look at you. <em>Really </em>look at you.  You smiled.</p><p>“Frankie, I have feelings for you too,”. Just like that, a burden was lifted off your shoulders. Frankie grabbed your wrists like a lifeline, your palms on his cheeks grounding him.</p><p>“You do?”</p><p>You nodded in response. Frankie sat in stunned silence, his warm brown eyes never leaving your face. You noticed his gaze dip from your eyes to your lips for just a moment, and you sucked in a breath.</p><p>“Please just kiss me already,”.</p><p>The corners of Frankie’s lips quirked up into a grin, and he leaned in. He paused a moment before connecting your lips, and when he did you saw <em>stars. </em>His lips were <em>soft </em>against yours, and his hand travelled up to cup your face. Your hand tangled in his hair, knocking his ballcap off in the process. One hand travelled down to the small of your back. He pulled you ever-closer, your lips moving languidly against his. You reluctantly broke off the kiss with a soft laugh, your eyes locked on his gentle smile—that is, until the two of you recognized the slow clapping coming from behind you two.</p><p>Pope was back, this time with Benny and Will in tow.</p><p>“Fucking <em>finally,</em>”.</p><p>“How long have you been here?” Frankie grumbled, obviously irritated at the interruption.</p><p>Will chuckled before responding, “Long enough to know we won’t have to deal with any more lovesick glances from across the bar,”.</p><p>You tilted your head. “You knew?”</p><p>Benny rolled his eyes. “We <em>all </em>knew,”.</p>
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